Campaigners call for local power to set up 20mph zones in East of England

Swaffham already has a 20mph limit for the centre of the town, but Tony White wants to see this expanded to include the whole of Swaffham

Campaigners aiming to cut the speed of motorists in the East of England have expressed fears that the King's Speech could restrict 20mph (32km/h) limits.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently called for an end to "hare-brained" road schemes, including 20mph zones.

In Suffolk, 50 parish and town councils are seeking to set up the zones.

Adrian Berendt, a spokesman for 20's Plenty for Us in Suffolk, said there was "huge demand" for the limit to "improve the quality of life".

Robert Lindsay, a Green Suffolk county councillor who successfully campaigned for 20mph limits in Bildeston, said the speed limits should not be "party political issue".

"Councils of all political stripes should realise this is what people want," he said.

"It makes communities safer and clearly you can't declare war on cleaner air and safer communities. It's just not going to work."

Robert Lindsay said speed limits should not be party political

Tony White, a campaigner calling for a town-wide 20mph zone for Swaffham, in Norfolk, said collisions had been caused by excess speed.

Swaffham sits on the busy A1065, a road heavily used by HGVs, farming vehicles and tourists.

Mr White contacted the 20's Plenty For Us campaign group for advice

The Swaffham scheme is backed by the town council and the county council has said it should be going ahead.

Mr White said any moves by the government which prevented people living in Swaffham deciding for themselves if there was a need for a 20mph zone would lose the Conservatives votes.

"I think local decisions should be made locally. We are not against motorists, but is this a party looking to motorists rather than residents," he said.

"Is this a party just trying to win brownie points from motorists. Most residents in Swaffham want this 20mph limit."

The 20mph limit

• The first 20mph limit was brought in at Tinsley, Sheffield, in 1991

• Graz, in Austria, introduced 30km/h (18.6mph) as the speed limit on all residential streets without traffic calming measures in 1992

• Several English authorities have implemented 20mph as the default limit for residential streets, including Oxford, Bristol, Warrington and the London Borough of Hackney

In September Mr Sunak conceded that 20mph zones near schools "make sense" but said they should not be done in a "blanket way" - criticising the Welsh government's decision to drop the default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph for restricted roads.

He said he wanted to end the "war on motorists".

The Labour-run Welsh government predicts the change will save up to 100 lives and 20,000 casualties in the first decade.

Councillor Robert Lindsay fought a successful campaign to get a 20mph limit in Bildeston

A Norfolk County Council spokesman said it could not at this stage reveal the speed limit plan for Swaffham but could "confirm that the scheme is going ahead and we will be announcing more details later this year".

Suffolk County Council said: "We follow Department for Transport guidance on setting speed limits, and apply that as appropriate at a local level. We don't think that's likely to change - only that the guidance may be updated."

The government said it could not comment on what was going in the King's Speech on Tuesday, but said it had recently announced plans to make life easier for motorists, which included "updating 20mph zone guidance for England to prevent inappropriate blanket use".

BBC Politics East will broadcast on Sunday, 5 November at 10:00 BST on BBC One and available after broadcast on BBC iPlayer.